Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway Inc on Saturday posted a 23per cent decrease in quarterly operating profit, while soaring prices in stock holdings such as Apple Inc enabled the conglomerate to smash its old record for full-year earnings.
"I am delighted with the increased commitment to share repurchases," said Thomas Russo, a partner at Gardner, Russo & Gardner, which invests 13per cent of the US$13 billion of assets it oversees in Berkshire."It may be a very large arrow in Berkshire's quiver to increase intrinsic value on a per-share basis.
Such huge swings stem from an accounting rule requiring Berkshire to report paper gains and losses from its stock holdings with net income even if it sells nothing. Apple soared 86per cent in 2019 and 31per cent in the fourth quarter alone, leaving Berkshire with a US$73.67 billion year-end stake.